Shop, Eat. Repeat. How a bold repositioning campaign restored Aldi to record growth

IPA Effectiveness Awards Case Study 2018

Aldi’s sales growth slowed from 19.3% in 2015 to 12.3% in 2016 – amounting to a £347m lost revenue opportunity. It needed shoppers to reappraise its brand and visit stores more frequently. Through the ‘Everyday Amazing’ positioning, Aldi encouraged consumers to view its products as good enough for top-up purchases and not just a value-led big shop. The Brownlee brothers were chosen as accessible spokesmen in TV ads, online, social, in-store, and other channels. Following the activity, annual frequency of visits per customer rose from 19.1 to 19.8. Sales growth recovered to 19.1%, resulting in £1bn of incremental revenue, and 6.1% market share.

Getting more people to shop more often. It sounds simple enough, yet many lessons were learned. Received wisdom says it’s easier for a premium brand to sell more by discounting than for a value brand to add a premium. Yet we believe Aldi has shown that value brands can change their quality perception if they demonstrate the patience to change attitudes one step at a time. The key is not only to take small steps but to ensure each step is firmly consolidated before attempting the next. We’ve shown that the tools of marketing continue to evolve, permitting targeting with ever greater precision. However, identifying a behavior these people could but currently weren’t doing was the essential leap. Creatively, the Everyday Amazing campaign had many strands, each tailored to work for the message and media in which they ran, yet together, adding up to a cohesive whole. This campaign proved the power of suggestion is alive and well. In targeting ‘special’ and ‘top-up’ occasions the communications presented appealing stimulus at the optimum time to elicit the desired response. We had to adapt as we listened to our customers and ensured our messaging continued to be relevant at all occasions. Whilst Aldi may not yet be the leading player, it’s already at the forefront of change in the UK grocery market. Demonstrating both agility and clarity of purpose, Aldi sticks to what it knows yet continues to question what it does, and find better ways to do so. Not only did the campaign restore Aldi’s growth rate to stellar levels, it propelled the brand to the status of a genuine contender and, in doing so, challenged the hegemony of the ‘Big 4’. In this respect, this paper should give heart to every ‘David’ that they can take on their industry’s ‘Goliaths’.

Adam Zavalis, Marketing Director, Aldi UK
Aldi UK